Political Blotter: Rep. George Miller feted

This is a sampling from Bay Area News Group's Political Blotter blog. Read more and post comments at www.ibabuzz.com/politics.

June 18

Rep. George Miller, retiring at the end of this year after 40 years in the House, will pick up awards as part of a victory lap that could last through the end of his 20th term.

The California League of Conservation Voters will present Miller, D-Martinez, with its "Byron Sher Lifetime Achievement Award" during the group's 2014 Northern California Environmental Leadership Awards ceremony on June 26 in San Francisco.

The group notes that Miller "has been a leading advocate in Congress on the environment, education, labor, and the economy since he was first elected in 1975. From 1991 to 1994 he chaired the House Natural Resources Committee, overseeing the environment, energy, and public lands, and served as that committee's Senior Democrat until 2000, taking what worked in California to the national level."

Then, the Contra Costa County Democratic Party will honor Miller at its inaugural Roosevelt Awards Dinner on June 27 in Concord.

State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and retired Tue Phan, of Danville, a retired immigration judge, will compete in November to succeed Miller in the 11th Congressional District. DeSaulnier won 59 percent of the vote in June 3's primary election, while Phan got 28 percent; four other candidates were eliminated.

That's particularly germane for state Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, D-Hayward, who is 413 votes -- half a percentage point -- behind Republican Hugh Bussell, of Livermore, in their battle to finish second after Rep. Eric Swalwell in the 15th Congressional District. The second-place finisher, of course, will go on to face Swalwell, D-Dublin, in November's general election.

Most of the district is in Alameda County, where Corbett beat Bussell by 1,048 votes. But it also includes a small piece of Contra Costa County, where Bussell bested Corbett by 1,461 votes.

Corbett hasn't returned six phone calls over the past 10 days, including one this afternoon, inquiring about her intentions (though her Senate staff has issued 10 news releases about her activity in Sacramento during that time). Dupuis has not received any request from her for a recount, spokesman Guy Ashley said.

The report says the only way to fully implement the decision and ensure same-sex, legally married couples are treated equally under federal law is by passing bills such as S. 1236, the Respect for Marriage Act, offered one year ago by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Feinstein introduced the bill on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in U.S. v. Windsor, finding a key part of DOMA unconstitutional.

"I welcome the Justice Department's call for passage of our legislation to finally repeal DOMA once and for all and ensure that legally-married, same-sex couples are treated equally under federal law, regardless of where they live," Feinstein said in a statement issued Friday. "The Justice Department today made clear what we have known all along: the only way key federal agencies like the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs can fully implement the Windsor decision is by enacting the DOMA repeal legislation I introduced with Congressman (Jerrold) Nadler."

Feinstein's bill has 44 co-sponsors, none of whom are Republicans. H.R. 2523, the House version of the bill offered by Nadler, D-N.Y., has 174 co-sponsors, including two Republicans: Reps. Richard Hanna of New York and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.